Sony Creative Science Award 2016

Approximately a year ago, shortly after Mr 7 embarked on his Primary school journey, he came home excitedly and asked me if he could take part in the Sony Creative Science Awards. The what? I had absolutely no idea what he was talking about and I had the niggling feeling he hadn't a clue either.

Turns out, it's an annual toy-making competition for primary school students. Read more about it here. As a mother who likes tinkering and making, this sounded fun to me. Problem is, the toy has to demonstrate scientific principles. P1 kid? Science? Say what?

I was right. K hadn't a clue what to do. Our convo went--
Me: So what do you want to make?

Errr....a toy car?

And how are we going to do that?

Just find some round things to stick on to a box.

Is it going to move?

I dunno.

Err....and how is this toy fun?

I dunno.

Would you buy this toy?

I think so.

Together, we watched youtube videos to search for inspiration for something he can make (No electronics, wires, sawing, metal work...) and at the same time, learn something from it. Eventually we decided on doing something with hydraulics. If I can be bothered to search for the video, I will post it up here.

As it turned out, our simple-not-very-fun-but-still-ok toy earned him a Gold award in school. I guess there really must have been kids who submitted toy cars which didn't move!

Fast forward to 2016. Fuelled by the thought of receiving another trophy, K asked to join again. This time, I wanted him to think he thought of the idea himself. As a very boliao enthusiastic mom, I did my research first and shortlisted a few ideas that he could possibly understand and embark upon. And then I fed it to him in such a way that I was only making suggestions and he was making the decisions. HE decided to make a pinball machine. HE decided the theme will be Star Wars. And HE decided what tasks/obstacles to place on the pinball machine. See? It's all down to him.

I personally felt this was a very successful project. Although pinball machine is not a new idea, it was a hit with the boys. They were constantly bickering over who gets the next turn. Best of all, it costs next to nothing! The materials used were: cardboard boxes, tube rolls, straw, rubber bands, ice-cream sticks, fasteners and a marble. All of these were already lying in my craft stash (read: my karang guni corner). The only thing I had to purchase was a can of spray paint because using a paintbrush would take forever.

Robotics with Robo Dynamics

Over the last weekend, the boys attended a Robotics workshop held by Robo Dynamics. This workshop focused on 2 robot toys -- Dash&Dot and Cubelets.

Dash & Dot are essentially a pair of robots-- Dash, being a one-eyed 3-legged thingamy and Dot, being an.....eye. Yup! Their major draw is the ease of programming. These robots are programmed using any tablet and the commands are very easily understood. The boys had tinkered with these in previous workshops so they already had a basic knowledge on the workings and were able to get into the flow very quickly.

Cubelets consists of a bunch of cube shaped objects, which can be connected to each other. Each cube is embedded with different sensors and adds a specific function to what you are attempting to build. 

I liked how the instructors engaged the kids, through story telling. The kids were drawn into an adventure story and then encouraged to design a robot with functions to help them get through different scenarios.

Most importantly, the kids had fun and are asking for more.

Earth Day 2016

 

About 2 weeks ago, J brought home a school notification for us to submit a 3D art piece using recyclable materials. I had big plans, but NATO (no action talk only). And then J came down with a viral fever lasting almost the entire week so neither of us were in much of a mood for brainstorming and crafting. Made this super simple craft using egg cartons. I cut, he paint. Easy peasy and quite cute too,  right? K came back from school, took a look and said "So lousy!"....but then came back 5 mins later and told me quietly "Make 1 for me too." RIIIIIIIGHT!

So ANYWAY, J came back from school  yesterday telling me of the elaborate pieces his classmates had submitted and I felt a teeny bit bad for not making more of an effort this year. So although I hadn't originally intended to make him a recyclable costume for Earth Day tomorrow, I decided to do something at the very last minute. Ta-dah! Meet Captain J-Hook! 

 

Craft supplies used: Newspaper, white paint, black marker, plastic cup, ice-cream stick, aluminum foil.  

To blog or not to blog...

I've been procrastinating forever on whether or not to start a blog. Technically, I've had this space up and running for some time but have not had the 'calling' to start it off.

I wanted to start blogging (again, because I previously maintained 2 other blogs) to keep track of stuffs I'd done with the kids because I finally realised it was hard to search back on past events in facebook.